Sermon Illustrations

Jesus Took Our Place At Calvary

A man named Goho rose to be chief of the tribe. He was a good man, and far wiser and advanced in understanding than his fellow tribesmen. The year he became chief, the tribe brought in 40 heads. He judiciously suggested that the tribe use one head each year as a gift to the gods and not hunt heads for the next forty years. He believed that a 40-year reprieve in headhunting would stop the practice.

The tribe agreed with the new chief and followed the suggestion for a number of years. But their thirst for blood, and the habits of their pagan religion finally won out, and they decided to hunt for the heads of men again. The chief agreed, but under one condition; the tribe was to take only one head, and it had to be the one he proposed. They agreed. He told them to wait in the jungle by a path, at the evening hour, and a man would pass in a red cape.

The tribesmen waited with their bows and arrows in hand. Then he approached, the man in red, and twelve arrows quickly brought him down and killed him. They decapitated him. Alas, when they held up his head, it was the head of their chief. The tribesmen fell on their faces, weeping. They vowed never to kill another person as headhunters.

In a much larger way, Jesus took our place at Calvary. He took the arrows of judgment aimed at us.

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